Empyrean Frontier
Patch 3/12/2024
-Fixed bugs relating to attempts to construct imperial station modules outside the map boundary
Update 11/28/21
-added optional animated typing effect to most text
-improved formation drawing algorithm's performance and accuracy (especially when drawing circular formations and split formations)
-when giving a ctrl "move in formation" order, the game now uses the last destination instead of current position if the unit has player move orders (this allows queueing "move in formation" orders without units drifting away from the initial formation)
-edge scrolling can be delayed and slowed when box select is active (prevents unwanted screen panning when box selecting units near the edge of the screen)
-weapons with multi-part turrets rotate properly
-refinery wheels spin correctly
-fixed bug where frigate group members would ignore rotate orders
-tractor beams no longer push/pull units that aren't movable (prevents pulling MCS while deploying)
-improved boss highlighting effects in campaign missions
-interface panels can now have separate border colors
-improved scaling of scroll panel textures
-updated visual style of several options menus
-tractor beam frigates will no longer be pushed when pulling large ships such as cruisers
-changed tutorial 3 so intro scene uses union advanced fighters on both sides
-corrected some text in tutorial 3
-the 2nd group of assault cruisers in tutorial 3 are now upgraded with plasma cannons
-updated several additional explosion effects to use moving textures
-pirate bosses now start with Union unit types not Imperial in their starting fleets
-campaign starting credits reduced from 4000 to 2000
-flagship modules are discounted 50% in the campaign setup menu
-reduced the cost of unlockable flagships in the campaign
-units will no longer fire at wormhole entrances
-projectiles are now sucked into wormhole entrances instead of colliding with them
-fixed issue where units would lose acceleration within weapons range of wormholes
-improved visual effects when entering wormholes
-added new icons for the flagship shield boost and speed boost ability modules
Patch 9/12/20
-Command Center modules properly maintain their rotations when loading saved games
-lunar modules now load with the correct health and shields when loading skirmish games
-neutral capturable buildings can no longer be sold
Patch 5/15/20
This patch decreases the difficulty of the campaign and makes several boss encounters more forgiving if the player doesn't know the boss mechanics.
- increased starting supply and starting resources and decreased enemy supply for abandoned base missions
- enemies in gladiator missions start with less health on easy and normal difficulty
- enemy cruisers in gladiator missions now have weapons only on their left side, allowing players to micro around them with faster ships in order to avoid all damage
- the intro message for the abandoned base missions now cannot be closed until the base is found
- in easy and normal mode, in the campaign enemy units start with 0% shields
- in easy mode in the campaign players start with 100% shields, and on normal they start with 75%
- in the tech boss fight the player has an additional 10 seconds to move their ships to hide behind the nearest moon
- the tech boss super attack now only does moderate damage on easy and normal difficulty if the player doesn't hide in time
- the corsairs bastion boss now only has 2 cluster missiles on easy and 3 on normal difficulty
- removed planetary cannons from the corsairs bastion boss on easy and normal difficulty
- mining boss' 3 outposts have fewer defensive turrets on easy and normal difficulty
- mining boss' continuing super wave cannon firing rate reduced to once every 45 seconds on normal difficulty and once every 70 seconds on easy difficulty
- increased starting supply limit for shipyard corp boss to 650
- pirate and corp enemy boss base armor decreased to 80% on easy and 90% on normal
- fixed bug where the tractor beams on shredder modules weren't activating properly
Update 1.1
Engine and Graphical Improvements:
- Added new effects engine and improved various destruction effects (For example, the new wave cannon effect and Command Center destruction effect above)
- Improved engine optimization for better performance and faster framerates especially during large battles
- Added new particle effects to the cruiser and frigate shipyards
- Added ship ghost effects when units are being warped in from cruiser or frigate shipyards (see image below)
- glass textures are dimmed for station modules when in low power
- Optimized AI so allied players can more efficiently share visiblity data (The AI has no resource or sight cheats so each team has to calculate the currently visible units and map tiles, this update just makes this process more efficient)
Gameplay and Balance Changes:
- Ships (except for fighters) now have an acceleration factor when beginning to move
- Increased basic fighter damage from 9 to 12
- Reduced assault cruiser speed from 40 to 30
- Power generation/drain is now calculated after buildings have finished construction
- Units in groups being pushed/pulled by tractor beams can now be hit as intended by projectiles when pulled far from their parent group
- Tractor beams now have less strength at their maximum range and will pull units more smoothly
- Speed boost abilities now ramp up/down speed during the first/last 10%
- Fleet speed reduced from 80 to 50
- Fleets that just lost a battle gain a speed boost for 6 seconds so they can run away from the winning fleet and avoid another battle
- Battle countdown timer in fleet conquest skirmishes increased from 5 seconds to 7 seconds of game time
- Easy AI no rush timer increased from 4 to 7 minutes
- Added new sound for super missile launch
- Repair cranes now repair health only, not shields
- The enemy now has fewer wave turrets on normal and easy difficulty for the "destroy the 3 outposts" mission
- Increased ram damage from enemy boss in the Fire Hawks boss fight
- Added allied ships to the intro of the Fire Hawks boss fight to showcase the ramming damage
- Starting supply for pirate faction boss fights in the campaign changed to 600 past the first zone
- In flagship gladiator nodes the enemy now starts with lower resource amounts
- Updated messages and timings in the fleet tutorial mission
- Improved formation use during the intro of the 3rd tutorial mission
GUI Changes:
- Added buttons showing the number of selected units with each stance type (see image above)
- Added a modifier key (default Ctrl) that deselects units when left clicked or box selected
- Added current tech level icon
- Mousing over the game time in the bottom right corner now displays the current game speed
- Added new button icon for the fleet conquest skirmish mode
- Improved faction leader portraits seen during the campaign
- Added warning menu before campaign missions if the player has not selected any units for battle
- In campaign stores the "Repair" button text has been changed to "Confirm Repair"
- Updated unit strengths/role descriptions for several units
- When a production building has nothing in the build queue, the "halt" command is automatically cancelled
Bug fixes:
- Fixed stuttering issues for ships and turrets when moving
- Fixed potential crash which could occur when an assault cruiser was destroyed while attacking
- Fixed bug where skirmish save games would incorrectly set up researched techs
- Saved games now work properly with fleet battle skirmish maps
- Saved skirmish games now properly save the current state of the AI's build order progress
- Fixed visual bug where repair beams would be drawn before the structure was finished building
- Units that aren't movable no longer add return home orders to themselves or their neighbors (this was causing unexpected extra move orders for the Fire Hawk's flagship)
- Fixed bug where cruiser weapons wouldn't have their positions updated every frame if they were pulled by tractor beams
- New Command Ships will now move away from the capital shipyard before the old Command Ship is issued a collision move order
- Fixed bug where units on an attack move order would sometimes move significantly closer than their maximum range
- Fixed visual bug where wave cannon pulses were sometimes off target or rotated incorrectly
Update 1.05 7/3/19
Added 2 new options in the graphics settings menu for hiding the map's grid lines and for hiding unit group icons.
(when map grid lines are hidden, the map grid will be visible only for showing territory during solar system skirmish games)
(when unit icons are hidden, unit group members will be drawn at any zoom distance regardless of other settings)
Update 1.04 6/25/19
-Balance changes: a hardening of the counter system to give units more well defined roles:
- Most anti-fighter projectiles and green laser weapons have their damage reduced against frigates, cruisers, and structures
- Red Plasma projectiles (anti-frigate/cruiser weapons) have their damage reduced against fighters
-Added Icons and text to the bottom of the campaign battle menu, showing the current makeup of the units selected for the battle. These give the player a basic idea about the makeup of their units and of the enemy fleet, allowing them to choose units and plan according to the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy fleet.
Additional changes:
-default campaign difficulty is now set to normal
-default game speed is now set to 1.5x
-the game speed slider in the options menu no longer displays incorrectly rounded values
Patch 1/20/19
Update 1.01 9/16/18
This patch adds the ability to save/load skirmish games and to manually save/load multiple campaign save files.
This update also adds shift click functionality for building 5x of the given unit type. Right clicking on a unit production button now also removes the last 1 (or 5 if shift is pressed) in the build queue.
I've also made some adjustments to campaign difficulty and added new lower resolution textures for some of the larger texture files which should hopefully help players with lower system specs.
-added saving and loading functionality with a new menu
-added shift click functionality for unit production
-union fighter shipyards and flagship fighter shipyards can now be given build orders at the same time
-enemy units in easy campaigns now have a 30% damage debuff (this is limited to units added at the start of the battle, not units built later on)
-increased the amount of after battle salvaged ore and credits for easy (1.5x to 2x) and normal (1.25x to 1.5x) difficulties
-tradeships will now find new target stations if their old target was destroyed
-added texture quality toggle in the options menu which can be set to load lower resolution textures for some objects
Empyrean Frontier Full Release
Version 1.0 features:
- 6 stage campaign which includes:
- 59 possible regular encounters
- 7 possible enemy faction boss battles
- 3 quest given miniboss fights
- 3 quest given enemy stronghold skirmishes
- 1 final boss battle
- 59 possible regular encounters
- 2 fully developed playable factions
- Build mobile bases, collect resources, research upgrades, fire superweapons, and build a wide variety of modules and combat units
- 6 unlockable flagships for the campaign
- Skirmish mode against AI on 7 varied maps
- Solar system skirmish (mini-campaign) skirmish
- Arcade Boss Rush mode (practice against campaign bosses)
- 5 part comprehensive tutorial and a tutorial campaign
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10 Update Patch Notes:
-added final boss encounter
-updated remaining corporate faction portraits
-modified difficulty settings for better playability and fleet scaling on all difficulty levels
-added campaign completion achievements